# Dance In The Wilderness

Аноним Пайк

1.


- Hey! Nice to meet you, isn"t it?

Miguel Alvarez, a 50-year-old, grey-haired man, rose from his chair, walked up to Jose and patted him on the shoulder.

- Well, you are my ass now, - he said, - What do you say?

He didn"t like the word "assistant" and all other words that had too many letters in them.

- It is my pleasure to work for you, sir, - Jose replied.

- Fuck pleasure! I am your boss! Got it?

- Yes, sir.

- You read that shit I gave you?

- Yes, sir.

- Good. Now listen up. I want him dead. Today.

- But sir... I am afraid, that is not what I was hired for.

- I ask questions here!!! - Miguel raised his voice, glasses in the bar started to jingle. - And I give orders!!!!! You - answer my questions, take my orders! Understand?!!

- Yes, I understand you, sir. I am sorry, sir. I only wanted to make sure there is no misunderstanding.

- Fuck you! Are you idiot? - Miguel said.

- No sir.

- Are you stupid?

- No.

- What"s your fucking problem?

- I just wanted to make sure this is not a joke... like one of those Halloween things you know... - asked Jose, still hoping.

- Halloween, eh? Look in the fucking window! What month is it? Ha-ha-ha, what month is it I said?! Ah?? Ah??? Idiot!!!

Miguel laughed loudly for five minutes, then he stopped laughing and stared at Jose without blinking.

- You kill him or I kill you. Got it, kid?

- Yes sir, - answered Jose in a trembling voice. - But I don"t have any weapons... I wasn"t quite prepared...

Miguel slammed a gun on the desk in front of Jose.

- Here. Never killed a man in your life, eh?

- No, not until now.

Very quickly he grabbed the gun, turned around and unloaded all bullets into what he thought was Miguel"s head.

Miguel roared like a raging bull. It took him two leaps to get close enough to Jose and before the poor ass knew it, ten strong fingers were locked on his neck.

- Who do you think you are, shrimp?! You think you can kill me?


_________b_


He was on the floor. The lights were on. The room was empty.

"uhmm... where am I?"

Not a sound.

Then it hit him. Of course! There was a corporate party... Halloween party, yes! He took some drugs or maybe not, he didn"t remember, but something was strange, really really weird about this whole thing... And about those drugs... if he took them.

OK, what else he knew?.. He got a promotion a day before that, then he hired a man to kill the former vice-president? And something was missing.


"Why am I on the floor?? ----------------------------------->

"

...

ઔ╪?

▒▒▒▒▒▒


Run, run, run!!!

He got up and ran. The room was enormous and it had no doors.

"Where is the fucking exit?"


"THE WINDOW"!!!


○○○


The lights went out.


2.


- Hey dude you ok??

A voice. Who could that be?

"Gee where the hell am I?"

- Look look, he"s alive!


Jose opened one eye, then the other. He was outside. He could see trees and clouds in the sky. It was cold and windy. Lots of people around him, men, women, children, a bunch of schoolkids across the street, a guy in UPS uniform. All staring at him. What do they want?

- Where am I? - he barely recognized his own voice.

- Your on 55th street, - the UPS guy said. - You ok?

- Yeah I guess so... Why... why am I here?

- I dunno... You on drugs or sumtin? You sure you ok?

- Shit!!! Where is that guy who wanted me to kill the... Fuck, what am I doing here? Who am I?

The UPS guy looked at him with disgust.

- Your nuts, that"s what you are.

People started to turn and walk away. The sun came out of thick rainclouds and happy yellow light filled the air.

- I know who he is. I know, I know, I know! - Jose yelled at the sun. - He comes every night, in my dreams. I know him! Hey you, UPS dude, come here for a second!

The UPS dude who was already walking to his truck, stopped and turned.

- He"s one of them, or maybe he is just the One, - Jose told him.

- Get da fuck outta here punk! - the UPS dude turned away and kept walking.

Jose pulled the 38-mm out of his pants.

- HOLY SHIT!!! What is this?!

People instantly looked toward him, saw the gun and ran in all possible directions.

- Damn it! - Jose cried and threw the gun at the UPS dude who was now far away.

- Fucking shit!! - cried Jose again.

A new wave of horror swept over the sidewalk where some of the people still stood. Soon, the street was empty.

- I must find him, - said Jose out loud. - I must stop him.


3.


- Hello there! - a cheerful old man on a large grey horse was approaching. He looked somewhat gay in his leather trousers and ornamented snowshoes. The chain mail coif along with the fine thin vambraces and gauntlets looked a little old-fashioned. Nevertheless, his appearance was quite impressive due to the beautiful shiny breastplate which looked absolutely stunning.

- Good morning to thee, good sir, - Jose answered in bewilderment

The horse looked very strong and well-bred. Oh what a horse it was! Even Jose, who was not particularly fond of animals, couldn"t help staring at this charming beauty.

- It must have cost you a fortune to get a beast like that? - he ventured to ask after staring at the horse for a few moments.

- Well, no. In fact, it was very cheap. It didn"t cost me a copper, to be precise. It is a gift from the King of Mushtahog. Of course, you have heard of Guwxuzqd the Ironhand.

- Aye, I have heard of him, - nodded Jose.

- I believe I have seen you before , - the old man said.

- You also look strangely familiar to me, - Jose said.

- My name is Vruumh the Sorcerer, - the old man replied with great pride and courtesy. - I am a n00b in this game... errr... I mean, I am new to this land, but folks in the northern kingdoms know me very well.

As he said that, his shadow seemed to grow and swing from side to side. Or was it only an illusion?

- I am Ubgurz the Wanderer, - Jose said, shocked by his own words. "UBGURZ? What kind of a fucking name is that? Did I just make it up?"

- Ubgurz!! - Vruumh screamed. - The Great Knight of the West! This is what people call you. Am I not right?

- Aye, sir, some people do call me that indeed, - Ubgurz said shyly.

- So here is the legendary Ubgurz!.. I have heard of your glorious victories in Buthshzydshgkhohg. - Vruumh bowed deeply.

- And I have heard of your marvelous adventures in the Land of Wugduzghashgzhumbzg. - Ubgurz bowed in return. Obviously Vruumh wasn"t the kind of a man to mess with.

Old Vruumh smiled and bowed again.

- I assume that you intend to stay at the Bloody Axe Inn, - Ubgurz said.

- Your assumption is correct. There are no other inns in this village.

- Well, I hope we shall have a good conversation in the tea room this night. I can"t wait to hear the news from afar.

- Oh yes indeed! I would very much like to hear your tales as well. And tell mine, too. But now I must hurry. My horse is tired, though he may look fresh and strong.

- Very well, I shall see you in the tea room. I am greatly honoured to make your acquaintance. - Ubgurz said. Suddenly, he felt intimidated by Vruumh"s presence. The feeling was so familiar... In a sudden flashback, dreadful memories of a long-forgotten fear enslaved his mind.

- So am I, so am I, - the old man bowed, dismounted from the horse and started towards the stables. The feeling passed as the man"s shadow slowly disintegrated.

"Who was that old bastard? And who am I?

The sunlight started to fade.

"OH NO! Not again!"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_


No!!!


"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!"

_

_'_

_'

_'

_'

_�

_�

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Œ

'

_


AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH


! ! !

The sun went black...


_

_ __ _

_

_ __


- Wake up mister!

The pain was gone. His vision cleared.

- Are you feeling fine mister?

- I am fine. I must have fallen asleep.

He didn"t remember a damn thing about how he got here.


INT SUM ( SQRT x OVER xi ) ANGSTROM SUPSET OINT [ OMEGA _ y+ lambda SANGLE TOP ] OVER lim arctan chi SQRT ╝ INF =0


4.


.

- Hey you, fatass!! Fill it up will ya?

The barman grimaced apologetically to Ubgurz who looked back to see who was yelling.

The bar was filled with fat disgusting drunks. Towering above them was a huge red-faced man with a huge, black mace in one hand and a huge jug in the other.

- Can"t ya see I"m out of wine ya pig?

The bartender hurried to the man, took the empty jug from him and filled it up from a barrel. He had troubles lifting the full jug but the red face easily snatched it from him with his left hand and busied himself with the wine.

- You owe me 3 silver Charlie, you remember? - he said before leaving him.

- Greedy bastard, - the red face bubbled in the jug not even bothering to stop drinking. - You dreamed that up, fatass?

- You left yesterday without paying. So that makes it one silver for yesterday and two for today.

Charlie sank deep in thoughts.

- Well, you may be right. I don"t remember a fucking thing about yesterday, that"s for sure. Here, shove it up your balloon-ass.

He slammed three coins on the table.

- No offense, Charlie. I wouldn"t take a penny from you if it wasn"t for my wife and kids. I gotta make some living.

- Alright, fatass, now leave me alone.

- He"s a nice guy, - the bartender said when he came back to Ubgurz"s table. - Rude, but nice.

He was silent for a minute, contemplating the bar and making sure no one was making trouble.

- It"s nice"n quiet when Charlie"s here, - he said finally. - Nobody wants to have their ass kicked. So, whatcha thinking? Like this place?

- Yeah, nice place, - Ubgurz agreed.

- My name"s Bob, - the bartender said moving his chair closer to Ubgurz. - What"s yers?

- Johnny Williams, - Ubgurz said to his own immense surprise.

- Can I get you something? - asked Bob.

- A beer would be nice, - Johnny said.

- A big one eh?

- You bet.

Bob nodded.

- Gotchya.

"So I"m Johnny now. Well, at least I don"t have to twist my tongue every time I introduce myself. Johnny sounds better than Huzdur or whatever my fucking name was before. Wait a minute... Huzdur? Jhuzub? Dubzguz... Kurdbugz... Gunzwubz... Shit!!!"

- Here you go, - Bob reappeared before him and set a small wooden barrel on the table. - Enjoy.

- DAMN! - Johnny cried. - You think I can gulp this whole thing down?

- Sure, why not? - Bob shrugged. - Your a big man.

He had never seen such a sissy boy in his life, but he was too polite to say that in Johnny"s face.

- Where you from? - asked Bob.

- Springfield.

- Damn, that"s eight hundred miles to the south! How in hell d"ya get here? I ain"t seen no horses coming from south for at least a month. - Bob glared at him with great suspicion and curiosity.

- I don"t know. I think I walked. How did I end up in this bar anyways?

- Well, I came down here about twenty minutes ago to replace my brother Jack you see. I live upstairs. Jack"n I own this place. N"saw you right here sleeping like a dead cow. Dunno why he didn"t see you. Jack"s very attentive to things like that. Well, I don"t mean to poke my nose in yer affairs. You got yer life, I got mine, as the old saying goes... Tell you something, see that guy just walked in? He"s a poet. Comes here ever week. Reads his poems and all. Folks like him. Never hurt a bug in his life. Charlie likes him too. Things get pretty weird when he"s in here. Just wait"n see.

The guy sat on a chair in the corner

of the room and started talking.


- There is something in this world that you can"t really see or hear or feel. Yet it is as real as any one of you here. It doesn"t take much room, nor does it have a color. You can"t touch it.

- Can you drink it? - yelled a drunken man from the opposite corner. The bar burst in laughter.


The Room Seemed To Darken.

"Shit, not again!!!!"


- No, but it can drink you, - the poet said. - And it can"t be explained or experienced. Its existence cannot be proved or denied. It is growing constantly and everything else grows with it.

- Then don"t you think we should stop it from growing any further? - one of Charlie"s friends asked. - What if it eats all our food n"drinks all our beer. You sure don"t want that to happen?

- No, you should not worry about that, - the poet said. - Its perfectly normal for it to grow. While it grows, we live. In fact, if it stops growing, we will all die.

The crowd gasped in wonder and disbelief.

- Why don"t you get to the point? - Charlie requested. - Has it got a name?

- Oh certainly, - the poet agreed. - It is called... - He made a series of guttural sounds.

The bar went silent. Johnny could almost hear the wheels rolling in people"s heads in a desperate effort to comprehend what the poet had said.

- Got any new poems you wanna read us? - Charlie finally recovered from his mental trance.

- Of course. Listen and try to think. I want you all to think. Any questions?

There was none.

So he stood up and began to recite:


Cudd yr yhzyr esgidebr

hud yt byvro insjerguwx


uwenortys dveuirtdon


uiwebsyvzyc xkyrviryin

C


The spirit in the audience rose. People were hugging and kissing each other. Some singing, some dancing, some flying in the air, some vomiting profusely.

- See what he"s done now, - the bartender said to Johnny. - now I gotta pay him to turn things back to normal.

He must have noticed the way Johnny was staring at him, so he explained:

- This is how the guy makes money! Don"t you see?

Johnny felt the force of the poet"s insanity taking his mind away to the endless depths of his subconsciousness.

- Why don"t you just tell him to GO FUCK HIMSELF?!! - Johnny screamed, annoyed, angry and exhausted.

- Shhhhhhh, - hissed Bob. Too late. :(

The poet saw Johnny.


- Do you know that you are not supposed to be here at all? - the poet whispered.

- If you tell me where I should be, I will go there at once, - Johnny replied.

- Hmm, I see some improvement, Johnny, - the poet smiled. - You are learning fast. Are you scared?

Suddenly, Jonny was scared.

- Yes, - said Johnny.

- You shouldn"t be scared of your death, - the poet replied. - Want another poem?

The poet relaxed and turned toward the audience. Johnny realized that the force that had been holding him weakened and he could breathe again without struggle.

- Do you people want to hear another poem? - the poed asked.


??????????

?????????????????????????


- Yes, yes! - people chanted all around him.

- Ten silver! - the poet said turning to Bob. Unless, of course, you want them to keep flying.

The bartender disappeared behind the counter and emerged a moment later carrying the money.

- Here, - said Bob sadly and sighed.

The poet took the coins and counted them.

- Why are you so sad? - he said to Bob. - Everybody has to pay taxes, everybody. Even me.


- Very well, now for the poem I promised. It"s more like a song though. Here it goes:


twrt rituwoie 48twdfwef

irtwhiwhei gheurhi

weiwetij 4itwi wjetwi

________

________

____________________

wteitj teutaiwe

tdgktjtjj dgiowerer

wgijroooeoo we wer er

t4t doogkrkgjdi sdg

ef we efe fefefefe

..... we. er eee. .e.e

ref iefjio owoo fjnr

vv;d\ v []s q$ gg

\vwwwww g;ep

o

====================

sndvmn*riigiiit*hiot**o^u

vrieuv rvui dvowuew twet

________

________

_______

twet wetwt wete wee

wei iwt utteu iiotw

.


?

gggggggggggggggg

two1 tiuo wei e

uwioe ouaoeiu eiua eaiaoioi....


┼

╪

|}~__,╖"


Everyone was happy.


- I must leave you now, - the poet said, - The stormclouds are gathering.

The force was back in control, stronger than ever.

Johnny was about to throw up.

The poet waved good-bye to the audience and


walked


out.


The room was almost pitch black now.

"NOOOO!!! Pleeeeeease!.."


B

L

A

C

K

O

U

T


5.


Johnny opened his eyes. He was lying face down on a green wooden bench. He rolled on his back and saw the brightness of the sunlight coming down in golden streams through the thick mass of tree leaves. On his left, there were houses and a road with a few cars going at a low speed. On the right was a deserted field of thorny weeds and a ruined building with broken windows.

He got up and saw a girl. She was wearing a pretty blue dress and no shoes.

- Привет, - she said and smiled. - С прибытием!

- Как тебя зовут? - he asked her.

- Маша, - she said. - А тебя?

- А меня зовут Ivan, - he said. - _ __ _______ _______ ____.

- _ ___ _______ ________, - the girl replied. - _ ____ _____ ___!

She pointed to the left of the park, at the houses beyond the road.

- _______ _____? - asked Ivan.

- ________ ________ ____, - Маша said and smiled. - ____, ____, _ ____ ______ ____ _______, _? - and she looked at him with her irresistible dreamy eyes.

- ____, - Ivan said, - _ _______ ____ ____?

- __ ____-____ ______, __ _______. _____ _____ __ ___, ___ _ ______.

Ivan didn"t mind. So they took each other"s hand and started walking toward her house.

The entrance hall was dark and damp. Ivan felt a chill coming out of every dark hole and crawling over his skin. A large spider was sitting on the wall, looking at Ivan with its eight eyes and chewing on a nice green fly.

- ______ ____, Ivan, - the spider said and licked its lips.

"__ ____ ____! __ _______ ______ _________ _________ __ ___ ______!"

- ___ __ __ __ ___, _?

- __, _____ __ _______, ____! _ _ _____ ____ ____ __________...

- __ ________ __ _____ _____, ____ ______!

- __ ______, ___ ______, - the spider said. - ____ ________.


The spider floated gracefully out the window.

- Маша!!! - Ivan yelled on top of his lungs. - Маша!!!!!


@#$^* %^* !@#!@#% &)($%#$! $^&^&%


- He is in critical condition, doctor, - the nurse said. - He keeps yelling one word over and over again.

- What does he yell? - the doctor asked.

- "Маша", - the nurse said.

- Маша... - repeated the doctor. - What is that supposed to mean, I wonder? - the doctor seemed puzzled.

- It probably doesn"t mean anything, - the nurse said. - He has a fever.

- Maybe you"re right, - the doctor nodded. - Well, keep giving him the medication I prescribed and report his condition every hour. We can"t afford to lose him.

- Yes doctor.

- Did he yell anything else? In the human language, I mean.

- No doctor.


0000  Yes doctor. 0000  No doctor.

029A  Yes doctor. FD66  No doctor.

0534  Yes doctor. FACC  No doctor.

07CE  Yes doctor. F832  No doctor.

0A68  Yes doctor. F598  No doctor.

0D02  Yes doctor. F2FE  No doctor.

0F9C  Yes doctor. F064  No doctor.

1236  Yes doctor. EDCA  No doctor.

14D0  Yes doctor. EB30  No doctor.

176A  Yes doctor. E896  No doctor.

1A04  Yes doctor. E5FC  No doctor.

1C9E  Yes doctor. E362  No doctor.

1F38  Yes doctor. E0C8  No doctor.

21D2  Yes doctor. DE2E  No doctor.

246C  Yes doctor. DB94  No doctor.

2706  Yes doctor. D8FA  No doctor.

29A0  Yes doctor. D660  No doctor.

2C3A  Yes doctor. D3C6  No doctor.

2ED4  Yes doctor. D12C  No doctor.

316E  Yes doctor. CE92  No doctor.

3408  Yes doctor. CBF8  No doctor.

36A2  Yes doctor. C95E  No doctor.

393C  Yes doctor. C6C4  No doctor.

3BD6  Yes doctor. C42A  No doctor.

3E70  Yes doctor. C190  No doctor.

410A  Yes doctor. BEF6  No doctor.

43A4  Yes doctor. BC5C  No doctor.

463E  Yes doctor. B9C2  No doctor.

48D8  Yes doctor. B728  No doctor.

4B72  Yes doctor. B48E  No doctor.

4E0C  Yes doctor. B1F4  No doctor.

50A6  Yes doctor. AF5A  No doctor.


6.


Ivan ///opened his\\\ eyes.


____ ___ _____ __ ___ ____


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_


_

_


White walls, white sheets, white ceiling, white curtains, white door, white furniture.

- HE"S BACK!!! - the nurse yelled. - DOCTOR!!!! HE IS AWAKE!!

A tall man on a grey horse rushed into the room.

- OMG. - he gasped.

- Where am I? - Ivan asked. - Who are you people?

- Don"t worry, General, - the doctor said. - The crisis is over. You will be fine.

- You were sick, - the nurse explained. - Terribly sick. You got blasted by a transgredient chromoplasmotransmitter, remember?

- No.

"Hell yes. I remember! A blinding spray of colors. No pain. Just colors... and I felt like I was passing through some sticky stuff. A soft wall of goo. I was being sucked in. That felt like.................. a reversed childbirth!!!"


`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,


- Yes, I was shot with a TC. I remember now.

"The face of the enemy. The agony of dying friends. The cries for help... You don"t forget things like that. How the hell did I survive?"

- You should stay in bed for at least five days, General. It is important that you fully recover from your illness before you take leadership of the Intergalactic Troops again. - the doctor said. - You are the most important person in the Galactic System. The lives of trillions of trillions of people depend on you now.

- Do you know who rescued me? - General asked.

- Number 11632-7703.

- Report to Colonel Bierkopf immediately. Also, find out his real name and bring me his personal files.

- Yes, sir.

The doctor left.

General was thinking. He was ambushed in sector 13-04 which has no surveillance cameras. The guy could not possibly know that he needed help. What was that, a coincidence? Or ...

"... my worst nightmare. He is the One. He carried me out so he could torture me. He wants my mind. He is preparing it for his feast. Saving sweet stuff for dessert. Its either him or me now. Kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten."

There came a knock on the door before it opened, revealing a bald man in his mid forties dressed in civilian clothes.

- Oh my, General Richardson. Nice to see you alive and well! How are you feeling?

- Not bad, thanks, - Richardson replied. - Nice to see you too, Prime Minister. What news do you bring?

- I am afraid, I have bad news for you today. The Khazms invaded GAOWE this morning and claimed its entire star system. I am strongly convinced that an intergalactic war in the next two-three days is a reality.

- What are the Imakjamubs up to?

- They are not showing any signs of activity, so far. I believe, they would love to see us fight the Khazms. Whoever wins, will need a long time to recover. And that is what they are waiting for. I am not sure of their plans though. The Peace Corps officer we assigned to Lubjurd, Major Esd0hrj, failed to report.

- Shit!!! Your fucking Peace Corps is a bunch of fucking idiots. You are a fucking idiot too. For fuck"s sake... Did you study fucking extraterrestrial anatomy in fucking school? Don"t you know that the Imakjamubs have their fucking hypothalamus in the fucking spinal cord? And when its overheated, they start eating fucking bugs! Have you seen Esd0hrj eat fucking bugs?

- Well, as a matter of fact, yes. A couple of fucking times.

- Exactly my fucking point. The average temperature here is 10 degrees higher than it is on Lubjurd. Imakjamubs don"t feel very comfortable on our planet. And I don"t feel comfortable on this planet either. Not when idiots are in charge.

- How do you know all this, General? - the Prime Minister had a surprised look on his face.

- Because I have to! - General snarled. - Because without me all you stupid idiots would have been long dead! You were supposed to learn things like this in school, not here.

- That is not all the bad news, - the Minister said after a pause. - The Galactic Council is planning to hold the election this winter. They are not happy with you. They say people are tired of war. Gallagher is quite popular now...

- No!!! - General shouted. Only brutality can save the Galaxy. If we stop now, we will be fucking crushed.

But the Minister was not done with the news yet.

- Also, Friedman blocked the access to the time channeling system to prevent the theft of information.

- FUCKING BASTARD!!!!! He didn"t do it because he cares about fucking information! He simply wants to play a no-risk game. And he likes to fuck things up. If he gets us into a war, he"ll use the fucking system to get the fuck out of this time and we will stay here to die. What a smart plan! Har har har! He can eat shit!!! He probably hasn"t read a single book on chronodynamics. I"d like to see him try. What the sucker doesn"t know is that the time current has a momentum equal to the reciprocal of the square root of its coefficient of indulgence.

That means, a time-traveler always experiences a delay which depends on how stable the surroundings are. In our case, the circumstances, ambiguous as they are, will not allow the parameters of the above equation to take such values as to facilitate a safe and smooth ride for the fuckhead. Shit, looks like I am not likely to spend five days in bed as the doctor recommended. Well, then so be it. I must save the Galaxy. Is that all the news you"ve got?

- That is all, general. Umm... One more thing. I met doc in the corridor and he told me of your request. I loaded the personal number of the guy who rescued you into the Machine.

- And what did the Machine say?

- The guy"s name is Lucifer. I know it sounds stupid, but...


_ ß_&+_Ñ_z_åâ |h_ jj3I_åi?&>?


No!!!! Not again!


 I have come for you!

 Kill me or leave me alone. I"m tired of this torture.

 I do not want to kill you.

 What do you want then?

 I want your soul. But before I take it from you, I want you to remember this:


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 What is it?

 It is the meaning of life.

 Life... Something I"ve never had.

 You shall have eternal life in my REALM OF BLOOD!!!

 But why me?

 Why not?

 ...




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"...Life is nothing but a leaf in the wind,

candle in the dark,

pin on its end,

fly in a tarantula"s web,

scream for help inside a buried coffin,

dance in the wilderness..."


1998